Wang Solutions

A Fresh Start from the IRS

If you still owe taxes, you might be feeling the heat from deadlines and failure-to-pay penalties. Luckily, the IRS is cool enough to give you relief in three areas with its “Fresh Start” initiative.
 
1. PENALTIES: That’s right folks, the Fresh Start Penalty Initiative gives eligible taxpayers a six-month extension (until Oct. 15, 2012) to fully pay their 2011 taxes, without any penalties. This won’t get you out of paying interest on your owed taxes. But as long as you pay those taxes and the interest by the October deadline, you won’t be charged any nasty failure-to-pay penalties.

All the people who aren’t getting a lot of business/unemployed people in the house raise your hands! Your bad luck is good news for you, because the Fresh Start Penalty Initiative is only available to:  Wage earners who have been unemployed at least 30 consecutive days during 2011 or in 2012 up to this year’s April 17 tax deadline – OR – Self-employed individuals who experienced a 25 percent or greater reduction in business income in 2011 due to the economy.

3. OFFER IN COMPROMISE: What’s the difference between an agreement and a compromise? Well, the “Offer in Compromise” is an agreement between a taxpayer and the IRS that settles the taxpayer’s tax liabilities for less than the full amount owed. Under the Fresh Start initiative, the IRS decided to get real and has been working on more common-sense changes to the OIC program.
 
Tired of reading, but want to find out more? Then grab some popcorn and enjoy the IRS Fresh Start YouTube video and the IRS video series “Owe Taxes: Understanding IRS Collection Efforts.” They’re not as boring as they sound.